As an avid gardener, it’s hard for me to sympathize with the animals in Garden Getaway. This is a kid’s game about animals racing out of a garden after feasting on some poor farmer’s crops. I mean, growing veggies is a lot of work!
Despite my desire to side with the farmer, I still gave Garden Getaway a shot with my kids. It’s a racing game for 2-4 players that takes about 10 minutes to play.
Gameplay Overview:
In Garden Getaway, four animals are racing to the finish line. At the start of the game, each player is secretly dealt an animal that they want to win. On a player’s turn, they roll the two dice, and choose one of the results. Most will show a picture of one or two animals, and the player will decide which of those animals to move forward one space. Then the next player goes.
As soon as an animal crosses the finish line, the game ends and whoever had that animal’s card is the winner.
Game Experience:
Garden Getaway is a nice racing game for kids ages 4+. As the game is super light, there is probably a top end of that age range as well (not sure what it would be). But the rules are pretty simple, the turns are quick, and there is no reading required. You just roll the dice, move one or two animals, and hope yours wins.
If that were all there was to the game, my kids probably would have gotten bored with it after a couple of plays. They are 6 now and have started to be more interested in somewhat meatier games. That being said, the designers included a variant play mode for older kids which was a great idea.
In this new mode of play, the only change is that after the last animal leaves a tile, the player who moved it flips over that tile, revealing a special power. Some are pretty standard, like roll another movement die or just move one of the pictured animals. Yet, there are also some unique ones in there, such as the lettuce that stops the next animal who moves into that space from moving out again on its next movement, or there is the trampoline that gets placed into the space with the animal in the lead, and any animal that moves into that space, bounces ahead an extra space.
Not only do these new powers add a bit more interest to the game, but they sneakily add in a bit of a catchup mechanic. About half of them will give some advantage to a creature who is not in first place. I thought this was a great addition because it helps keep the little ones from getting angry when their animal is in last place. Because let’s be real, it’s not hard to tell who their secret animal is. They aren’t exactly subtle with their dice choices.
Final Thoughts:
While Garden Getaway doesn’t have the crossover appeal that some kid’s games do (Rhino Hero, Karuba), both my kids enjoyed it and have played it multiple times since we got it. The ruleset is also easy enough that they can play without an adult coaching them, so that’s another win. If you are looking for a light, quick-playing game to keep your kids entertained Garden Getaway is worth a look.
